pink bubblegum goodness and the karmic revival

I am working on My-So-Called-Scarf for a holiday gift - I am using Malibrigo for the first time...o.m.g. It is the color of bubble gum and as soft as cotton candy. I would eat it if I could. That is a common theme for me, if I like the yarn, I think I should eat it...and I do love bubble gum. So much in fact that I always swallow it, something about the slippery texture, I just want to eat gum - ew, I know. Anyways, the scarf project is going along quickly - it's easy to memorize the simple two line pattern. When I settle in tonight, I hope to knit and then read Redbook - there are hints on a "hassle free" holiday...how wishful. "Great gifts your really can afford." "No family drama." Can I afford not to read this? :) Seriously, my family of origin is not terribly dramatic - okay Mom...Kasey...are you reading this?... maybe a teeny bit sometimes, but it is so easy in the hustle of the season to get short on patience and long on negative self-talk.

Along the same vein, I hope to continue the season with a degree of mindfulness. I mean, isn't it funny a sitcom about a red-neck guy named Earl could offer some pretty sound advice - karma baby. I thought of Earl tonight when my husband retold an event from his morning. A man who he described as a "homeless" approached him after he dropped our daughter off at Sunday School. Apparently this gentleman was looking for help from the pastor and was telling my husband his story. My husband thought this guy wanted him to pay for a prescription for him based on their conversation. He then immediately thought that this guy - probably based soley on his appearance - must have been a drug abuser. My husband was raised by nice people but was not taught (or chose not to listen during such lessons) about how to pick a name off the tree to buy a gift for an underprivileged child, not people who put a buck in the Salvation Army bucket...I was raised a little differently (opposites attract, no myth here people) but I can recall giving money to the veterans in exchange for a tootsie roll, being taught not to stare at different people, to offer a smile, to share (or again, maybe I chose to listen during these lessons...but then my sister is a giver - so - anyways...). Anyhow, my husband was flustered about the guy after church. Instead of my usual rant abou helping people and his selfishness, we talked about how he might have helped the guy. He listened...what about taking telling this guy - "hey while you see the pastor, let me take your prescription and drop it off and pay for it, that way you can just pick it up?" That seemed very reasonable - no worries of sharing any personal information, no big commitment, yet the good deed is done. I think next time this situation presents itself, maybe my husband will find a way to give. Sometimes that's the hardest part - how to give without giving too much. How to give without guilt. How to give without making the givee feel desperate. How to find a way to give when your own family needs. The simplest things, a smile, helping the gas station attendant pick up the box of whatever she just dropped, helping the flustered mom corral the careening 2-year-old, a buck in the red bucket, even keeping your middle finger in check when "that moron" pulls out in front of you - little things yes, but good for our human kind, yes. Knitster bloggers are a huge community I am learning - I would love to hear what people are doing out there - what little things are you "paying forward"? I am not doing anything over the top, I am not tyring to pretend to be fabulous - I can only afford some little things this holiday myself - but let's share some good stuff. I don't think it is a stretch to think our home made scarves and mittens are a "pay it forward" to our non-knitting friends. Keepingn this log this year may encourage me to do more - keep me unselfish perhaps:) Outlous, to you or to myself, I commit to get something for the humane society by the end of the week to contribute to the bin at my children's daycare.